VATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI said Thursday that his predecessor Pius XII spared no effort to save Jews from the Nazis, one of the strongest Vatican defenses of a pontiff accused of silence during the Holocaust.

Benedict said during a meeting with a U.S.-based interfaith group that he wanted any prejudice against Pius to be overcome, praising what he called Pius’ “courageous and paternal dedication” in trying to save Jews.

Pius XII reigned from 1939 to 1958 and was a Vatican diplomat in Germany, and its secretary of state before that.

As news of the deadly mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, unfolded last week, Pia Guerra, a 46-year-old Vancouver-based artist, felt helpless. She couldn’t bring herself to go to sleep, so she began to draw.

Police who find suspected drugs during a traffic stop or an arrest usually pause to perform a simple task: They place some of the material in a vial filled with liquid. If the liquid turns a certain color, it’s supposed to confirm the presence of cocaine, heroin or other narcotics.